Guided Reading – Section 21.1

Section 21.1 – Causes of the Depression

My Answer / Question / Additional Notes From Class Discussion
1.
Which political party was given credit for the economic success of the 1920s?
2.
Who was overwhelmingly elected in the election of 1928? What was his political/govt background?
3.
Why were the farmers struggling in the 1920s?
4.
How did the severely uneven distribution of wealth pointed to an uncertain future for the US economy?
5.
By the end of the 1920s, how many radios and cars were being bought on credit instead of with cash? Why was this a problem?
6.
What happened on Black Tuesday? What part of the business cycle did this represent?
7.
Between what years was the Great Depression? What was the role of the Stock Market Crash in the Depression?
8.
How was the banking system affected by the stock market crash?
9.
What actions taken by the Fed made the bank failures worse during the Great Depression?
10.
What did business leaders do to try to survive the Depression which actually hurt the economy more?
11.
What was the Hawley-Smoot Tariff and how did it hurt the US and the world more than help?

Guided Reading – Section 21.2

Section 21.2 – Americans Face Hard Times

My Answer / Question / Additional Notes From Class Discussion
1.
What was the unemployment rate in 1933? How did those who kept their jobs also feel the effects of the Depression?
2.
How did E.Y. Harburg’s song, “Brother Can You Spare A Dime”, explain the nature of the Depression?
3.
What were Hoovervilles, Hoover blankets, and Hoover flags?
4.
What new farming practices had made the drought conditions in the Great Plains worse?
5.
What combination led to the dust storms of the Great Plains?
6.
In what states were the dust storms the worst which led to the region being called the Dust Bowl?
7.
Who were the Okies? Where were they headed?
8.
How did the government eventually try to help Great Plains farmers for the future?
9.
What was repatriation and why did the Okies encourage this?

Guided Reading – Section 21.3

Section 21.3 – Hoover’s Response Fails

My Answer / Question / Additional Notes From Class Discussion
1.
What was Hoover’s initial response to the economic crisis when it first began and what was his reasoning?
A.
B.
C. / 2.
What 3 actions or areas of change did Hoover finally promote when he saw that his original response didn’t work?
3.
What was wrong with these ideas for helping the crisis?
4.
What was localism? Why was this unsuccessful?
5.
What was Hoover’s “rugged individualism”? Why did he favor this approach?
6.
Describe Hoover’s Reconstruction Finance Corporation.
7.
How did Hoover’s plan follow the “trickle down economic theory” ?
8.
Why did the Reconstruction Finance Corporation have successful results?
9.
What public works program under Hoover was successful?
10.
What was the Bonus Army? Why were they upset and what had been promised to them?